Story in the Public Square

Ep 517 | Original Air Date May 20, 2019

America’s war in Afghanistan is the longest war in the history of the United States.  Katherine A. Brown served on the staff of the U.S. ambassador there in the years after 9/11 and she argues now that the role of the American press in Afghanistan is essential to understanding the conduct of the war. 

Brown is the author of a compelling new book about the press and America’s war in Afghanistan, Your Country, Our War.  She’s also the President and CEO of Global Ties U.S.

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Ep 516 | Original Air Date May 13, 2019

In 2003, the United States military unleashed a campaign the press had pre-christened “Shock and Awe,” the dominant and overwhelming application of American military power against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and its military.  Within weeks, U.S. forces controlled all of Iraq, and then the fighting really began.  This week on “Story in the Public Square,” Michael J. Mazarr unravels the decision making that led to what he calls, “America’s greatest foreign policy tragedy.” 

Mazarr is author of a new book about the run-up to the Iraq War, Leap of Faith: Hubris, Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy Tragedy. Currently a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, Mazarr worked previously at the U.S. National War College, where he was professor and associate dean of academics.

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Ep 515 | Original Air Date May 6, 2019

Sixty-one million Americans—that’s 26% of the population—live with some kind of disability. These are our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers, and our family members. While the Americans with Disabilities Act has improved the lives of many since it became law nearly three decades ago, Peter Blanck tells us the history and the ongoing challenges for those with disabilities can be stark.

Blanck is University Professor at Syracuse University—an academic rank only awarded to eight prior individuals at the up-state New York school. He is also chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at the school. BBI works globally to advance the civic, economic, and social participation of people with disabilities. A scholar of the history of disability rights in the United States, and an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities today, Blanck is a highly effective scholar and advocate.

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Ep 514 | Original Air Date April 29, 2019

It’s easy to be convinced by talk show hosts, editorial writers, and politicians that American security hangs on the razor’s edge and that the world is more dangerous, now, than it has ever been. Michael Cohen and Micah Zenko remind us that the facts simply don’t match that narrative.  In fact, they tell us, the world has never been better. 

Michael A. Cohen, a columnist for the Boston Globe, and Micah Zenko, a columnist for Foreign Policy, have co-authored Clear and Present Safety: The World Has Never been Better and Why that Matters to Americans. It is a bastion of reason and optimism in a world that, for many, feels anything but reasonable or optimistic.

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Ep 513 | Original Air Date April 22, 2019

The fossil record of planet earth tells us that there have been five mass extinctions—the most famous being the fifth that destroyed the dinosaurs. Elizabeth Kolbert warns that we’re in the midst, now, of the sixth extinction and its cause is human activity.

Kolbert’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Sixth Extinction, documents the risk to species across the planet. The threat is human activity.  The fabric of life has been altered largely in part by poaching, over-fishing, and deforestation—among other human activities. The resulting loss in biodiversity is reshaping life on Earth.

Kolbert was the recipient of the 2019 Pell Center Prize for Story in the Public Square, presented at a ceremony on the Salve Regina University campus earlier this spring. 

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Ep 512 | Original Air Date: April 15, 2019

If you were to compare the revenues of the highest grossing feature film in history and the highest grossing video game in history—you might be surprised to learn that the video game earned substantially more—five times more, in fact, than the film. As Kimberly Wallace tells us, video games are big business and their societal impact still misunderstood. 

Wallace is the features editor for Game Informer, a magazine covering the video game industry where narrative story telling is a well-established feature. 

Wallace indicates gaming is no longer the realm of single teenage boys, however, but a staple of social behavior with online communities.  Men and women play video games today and the average age of the gamer is in his and her 30s.

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Ep 511 | Original Air Date: April 8, 2019

Millions of Americans live with mental illness every day. Sarah Fawn Montgomery is a poet and author who explores the stigmas and biases associated with mental illness—both historically and today.

Her book, Quite Mad: An American Pharma Memoir details Montgomery’s personal experience in coping with the challenges that come with mental illness.  In her experience, care proved to be a trial and error process with medications sometimes doing more harm than good.  But in the end, she sees in her own story, “a beacon of hope and truth for the individuals living with mental illness.”

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Ep 510 | Original Air Date April 1, 2019

We live in a golden age of digital media content.  From pod-casts to blogs and online programs, there’s never been so much competition for the information consumer’s attention.  “Pop culture pirate,” Elisa Kreisinger brings humor and a mastery of pop culture to some of today’s most pressing issues.

Kreisinger is a writer, producer, and podcaster who sees digital media as a wonderfully accessible if financially-trying platform for storytelling.  Her podcast, Strong Opinions Loosely Held, explored issues like the #MeToo movement as well as whether audiences should stop watching films made by or starring performers whose off-screen behavior included sexual aggression. 

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Ep 509 | Original Air Date: March 25, 2019

Public understanding of healthcare is driven principally by our own personal experience—and that of our loved ones—with doctors, nurses, and hospitals—and for many, it can feel overwhelming. Dr. Helen Ouyang is an emergency room doctor at one of America’s best hospitals, but admits she found it difficult to access the healthcare system when she had her own health scare.

Helen Ouyang, M.D., M.P.H., is an Assistant Professor at Columbia University Medical Center, where she works full-time as a practicing emergency physician.

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Ep. 508 | Original Air Date March 19, 2019

Schools across America face an increasingly diverse student population while deep-seated institutional biases endure. Darnisa Amante argues that successful leaders who dig deep and unpack their own experiences with race and bias can help tear down the barriers of institutional racism and make schools better.

Dr. Darnisa Amante is an educational and racial equity strategist who is deeply committed to the study of culture; innovation; and adult development. Since earning her master’s degree in Anthropology from Brandeis University, and her doctorate from Harvard’s Educational Leadership Doctorate (Ed.L.D.), Dr. Amante has honed her knowledge of culture and adult development to transform organizational and school cultures on issues of equity; change management and re-design. Dr. Amante is founder and the CEO of The Disruptive Equity Education Project (DEEP), based in Manchester, N.H.

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